Carriage-shifting mechanism for calculating-machines.



0. THIEME.

CARRIAGE SHIFTING MECHANISM FOR CALCULATING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED IUNEA. 19:2.

1,153,354. Patentedsept. 14, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

0x THIEIVIE.

CARRIAGE SHIFTING MECHANISM FOR CALCULATING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED IUNEII. I912.

1,153,354. PatentedSept. 14, 1915.

Z SHEETS-SHEET 2.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPII co., WASHINGTON, IL c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. I

OTTO THIEME, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR T0 MOON HOPKINS BILLING MACHINE COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OF MISSOURI.

CARRIAGE-SHIFTING MECHANISM FOR CALCULATING-MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented sept. 14., 1915.

Application filed June 4, 1912. Serial No. 701,518.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, OTTo THIEME, a citizen of the United States, residing at city of St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Carriage-Shifting Mechanism for Calculating-Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had .to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a detail skeletonized view of my improved carriage shifting mechanism. Fig. 2 is a front elevational view. Fig. 3 is a side elevational view. Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view through the laterally movable paper carriage.

This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in carriage shifting mechanisms for calculating machines, the object being to automatically position the carriage containing a platen for supporting a sheet of paper whereby data,which may be written by the typewriting mechanism, may be identified with certain items introduced into the calculating mechanism. For instance, in banking transactions where, to expedite matters in the clearing house, it is desirable to employ the number of the. bank on which the check is drawn and the number of the bank in which the check is depositedthese numbers may be set up on the typewritin mechanism as, for instance, 34-56, .an then, without employing the tabulatin'g keys of the typewriting mechanism or manually shifting the carriage, the amount of the check, as for instance, $23.45, may be set up on the digit keys of the adding machine, after which the handle of the calculating machine may be pulled, or the motor key which controls the main operating shaft of the calculating machine may beoperated so as to introduce the item into the accumulating mechanism of the calculating machine.

In the type of machine to which'my invention is designed particularly to be applied, such for instance as illustrated in French Patent No. 383,719, dated January 16th, 1908, theforward pull of the handle, equal to the, downward pull of the motor operated link, positions the racks 100 before there is any engagement between said racks and the accumulator wheels 119. I utilize this first half stroke of the machine to shift the carriage so that the item $23.45 may be printed to one side, preferably the left of the numbers of the banks, to Wit: 34-56, as follows:

\Vhen the racks reach their forward po sition, the printing mechanism of the calculating machine is operated to make the printing impression and the backward movement of the racks results in introducing the item intothe-accumulator wheels, the returning'movement of the operating shaft also operating the line-spacing mechanism so as to rotate the platen and position the paper foranother operation.

The second operation, like the first, may be performed by printing, with the typewriting mechanism, the number of the bank on which the check is drawn, the number of the bank which is entitled to credit for the check and in which the check is deposited, then, without moving the typewriter carriage, proceeding to set up the number on the key board of the amount of the check. If this is $545.67, for instance, that amount would be set up on the key board of the calculating machine and the motor key operated, the operation of-the motor key on the first half stroke positioning the carriage so as to print the number $545.67 directly under and in proper position relative to the first item $23.45, as follows:

. This operation of identifying the banks by the typewriting mechanism and setting up the items constituting the amounts of the checks on the key board of the calculating machine being continued, the operation of the calculating machine positioning the carriage and its platen-supported paper While I have mentioned banking transac tions, it is obvious that the machine is capable of use in other transactions as, for instance, amounts of premiums paid on life insurance policies and the numbers of such policies may be tabulated, the premiums being accumulated and the totals thereof obtained; likewise, the numbers of cars and the tonnage of each car may be tabulated and the total tonnage obtained, etc. It is obvious of course that instead of employing numbers to identity certain items which are listed and accumulated, words may be written by the typewriting mechanism, such as States or other data necesssary to identify the listed items.

Instead of Writing in the dates, numbers or other identifying data on the typewriting mechanism in the first instance, it is obvious that the items to be listed and accumulated may be first set up on the key board of he calculating machine, the ope 'ation of the digit keys of the calculating machine not operating the escapement mechanism of the carriage as in letter-spacing operations, but permitting said carriage to remain laterally immo 'able, after which the typewriter keys may be operated and coincidentally therewith the letter-spacing escapement mechanism will be operated so as to position the carriage from right to left.

The carriage shifting mechanism hereinafter described positions the carriage from left to right and l have found that the sweep of the carriage shifting arm should, for ordinary operations, include in its ambit not less than fifteen letter-spacing positions of the carriage, thus permitting fifteen identifying characters to be written by the typewriting mechanism. Within this range of fifteen characters, the sweep arm will restore the carriage to normal position. It is of course obvious that the steep arm could be made longer to include a greater range of identifying characters, or the arm could be made shorter to include ashorter range of identifying cha 'acters, if it was found that a less number of identifying characters could be used.

In the actual operation of the machine, if the c: rriage is stepped over four spaces in the writing in of four identifying characters, the carriage will be returned four spaces to its original position; or, if (S, 9, 12, or 15 identifying characters are employed ano the carriage stepped lei wardly a corresponding number of spaces, it will be restored just exactly the number of spaces stepped leftwardly by the t 'pi-iwriter keys. In this respect, my device differs from the so-called shuttle mechanisms for shifting carriages a predetermined distance at each operation.

The carriage shifting mechanism which will restore the carriage a variable distance arm so that in its 1L rmal pos'tion, it will be below the path of travel of is coiiperat- 80 mg ad ustable pin on the c? l i c niitting the cariage and over he sw in in orb oneritions without 1 it 2 the a ljustab e in the path of the carriage mined position at ca eratin haft In the drai driven machine in which i plate upon which the t lating mechanisms are no I Y for supporting the to 1 writing mechanism, a] (l plate of the calculating laterally moyable carria platen 5 under which r printed upon is passed am keys of the ty icwriting nicclia which a is shown in dotted li type i) against this 3 to the right of the r 0 of the calculatir and figures may b in the manner well. typewriting machines. of the typewriting mei to one side, the right of ti o line of type positioned by the machine, but it may be to t 1 all as set forth in the pat a rhich r erence has her ofore been made. (3 incicates a motor for operating it ing shaft of calcuiat' means of a. link i which lini. a rock arm QXfQiHllil from saaft S. This motor is control L. motor key 9 connected by a rod 10 to a ing bar 11. which provided with 2 led face for raising the cli'itch rele esired,

, bar The details of this 1110't( form no part of my present ilYQiitiOli and mounted on a bracket secured to the top frame plate 3 of the typewriting mechanism. In its normal position, the sweep member of this bell crank 17 lies below the horizontal plane of travel of a pin 18 mounted on a block 19. This block 19 is adjustably mounted on a notched bar 20, secured to the frame 4: of the laterally movable carriage, so that the listing of identifying items may be done at different points on the sheet of paper being printed upon. I prefer to have several adjustable blocks as shown in Fig. 1 so that two or more columns of identifying items may be printed on the same sheet of paper side by side if desired.

It is, of course, obvious by referring to Fig. 1 that when the end of the sweep arm 17 lies under the pin 18, the typewriting mechanism can be operated and the paper carriage letter-spaced without any inter ference whatever from the sweep arm. However, in the tabulating work for which this machine is expressly designed, one or more of the blocks 18 are properly positioned. The carriage is then adjusted so as to place a pin 18 within the sweep of arm 17. This can be determined by pressing the motor key and ascertaining that the paper carriage is moved by the sweep arm one or more steps to the right. Then as a number is set up in the adding mechanism and the carriage advanced leftwardly up to the range of the sweep, said sweep arm will return the carriage to its original starting position upon the operation of the motor key. Of course, if the carriage is stepped leftwardly so as to move the pin 18 beyond the sweep of the arm 17, the carriage will be beyond the control of the sweep arm and will have to be again placed under the control of said sweep arm by manually positioning said carriage rightwardly.

In operation, assuming that the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 2, an item to be listed and accumulated may be set up on the key board of the calculating machine, the depression of the keys of which not effecting a lateral step by step movement of the paper carriage, after which identifying letters or numbers may be written on the paper by means of the typewriting mechanism. The operation of each typewriter key will move the carriage leftwardly step by step and whether one or more characters are typewritten on the paper up to the range of the sweep arm, the pin 18 will be operated within the arc of movement of the sweep arm and under control of said sweep arm. Of course if the pin 18 passes over and to the left of the sweep arm, the operation of the sweep arm will not cooperate with the pin and consequently the carriage will not be returned, but in ordinary operations this will not happen and the pin 18 will be left, after typewriting identifying characters, to

the right of the sweep arm so as to be under the control thereof. WVhen the motor key is operated to introduce the number set up on the key board of the calculating machine into the accumulator wheels 119, through the medium of the racks 100, (said racks carrying printing type c at their forward ends, as shown by dotted lines in the drawings, and fully described in the patent before referred to) the first half stroke of the operating shaft in which the link 7 is drawn down, will, through the spring 15 draw the arm 13 down and rock the sweep arm 17 toward the right. The sweep arm will engage the pin 18 and move the carriage toward the right a number of spaces equal to the number of identifying characters written by the typewriting mechanism, whether one or more, up to the range of said sweep arm, during which movement of the carriage toward the right, the rack bars 100 are moved forwardly out of engagement with the wheels 119, until they are arrested by their controlling stop pins. In starting the second half stroke, or what would be equivalent to the backward movement of the operating handle, if an operating handle was used, the link 7 rises and forces the arm 13 upwardly, restoring the sweep arm to its normal position. The accumulator wheels 119 are thrown into mesh with the racks so as to introduce the item therein, and the printing mechanism of the calculating ma chine is operated to make a record or list the items set up on the key board. After the item is listed, the line-spacing mechanism will be operated to rotate the platen and advance the paper for another printing operation.

The above described operations are repeated, it being immaterial whether the identifying characters are first written on the sheet of paper by the typewriting mechanism before or after the item to be identified, listed and accumulated in the calculating machine is potentially set up to be introduced into the calculating mechanism.

In Fig. 1 I have shown the spacing bar 21 which is carried on the forward ends of levers 22, the rear ends of said levers containing a rod 28 from which is mounted a link 24 for operating the pivoted escapem-ent pawl 25, which cooperates with the rack bar 26 on the paper carriage. These pawls are under control of a rocking plate 27, operated by a bar 28, whereby the escapement pawls may be thrown out of operative relation to the rack bar, by means of tabulating keys. In this manner the carriage may be stepped leftwardly upon the operation of any one of the typewriter keys, or by disengaging the escapement pawls either by the tabulating keys, or a lever on the carriage, not shown, the carriage may be moved leftwardly. The stops for the tabulating keys are not illustrated in the drawings, as the same form no part of my present iirwention.

The means for operating the paper feeding pawl 30, which cooperates with the ratchet on the end of the platen, is also shown in ll i, the same consisting of an arm 31 whicn is operated from some moving part of the calculating machine, the outer end or said arm engaging over a stationary lever having a pin 33 which rides over a rod 8% extending throughout the length of the carriage, said rod being mounted in a rocking frame 35, which carries a line spacing pawl 30. In this manner the paper may be line-spaced in any position of the carriage.

i do in this application claim the back spacing mechanism per 86, as the same terms the subject matter of a divisional application lied by me May 8, 1915, Serial No. 25,457.

I claim:

1. In a calculating machine, the combination of a movable paper supporting carriage, an adding mechanism, printing type for print-in" numerals, means for spacing the carriage whereby said numerals are printed in diiierent columns, means for c placing said printing type in control of said adding mechanism to add the numerals o" certain columns, and means operated by said numeral printing mechanism for back spacing the carriage after a numeral in a certain column has been printed.

2. In a calculating machine, the combina- "ion of a laterally movable paper carriage for supporting a sheet of paper to be printed upon, type writing mechanism for pri t ng words and characters on said a ac ding mechanism including a num- "iintmg mechanism for printing numerals on said sheet of paper in different columns an alongside of the, typewritten characters, an c: ;capement mechanism for the carriage, ai'itomatic tabulating mechanism cooperating with said escapement mechanism to column-space the paper, back spacing mechanism, and means for operating the adding mechanism, said number printing mechanism, tabulating mechanism, and back spacing l'l'lQCllflDlSHl.

In a calculating machine, the combination of a laterally movable paper carriage for supporting a sheet of paper to be printed upon, adding mechanism including a number printing mechanism for printing numerals on said sheet of paper in difierent columns, an escapement mechanism for the carriage, automatic tabulating mechanism to column space the paper, means for operating the adding mechanism, said number printing mechanism, and said tabulating mechanism after printing in certain of said columns, and means for back spacing the carriage after a certain column has been printed in, said back spacing mechanism returning the carriage the same d1stance 1t has been advanced as a result oi successive operations oi he number printing mechanism.

l. in a calculating machine, the combination of a shift-able *Japer carria e ad ustable elements thereon, accumulating mechanism, 1 leans for operating said accumulating mechanism, and means operated by said operating means for cooperating with said adjustable elements for dii'ferentially backspacing the carriage in two or more later ally diii'erent positions.

5. In a calculating machine, the combination of a shiftable paper carriage supporting a sheet of paper to be printed upon, number-printing mechanism, a motor, a key for controlling said motor whereby said number-printing mechanism is rendered effective, and means controll d by said key for difi'erentially back-spacing the carriage a predetermined distance regardless of the number of digits in a number printed.

6. In a calculating machine, th combination of a shiftable carriage supporting a sheet of paper to be printed upon, an adjustable member upon said carriage de signed to cooperate with a motor operated element, numberprinting mechanism, a motor for operating said number-printing mechanism, and means operated by said motor and cooperating with said adjustable member for back-spacing the carriage to a predetermined starting point from two or more laterally different positions.

7. In a calculating machine, the combination of a shiftable carriage supporting a sheet oflpaper to be printed upon, mechanically operated number-printing mechanism for printing numbers on said sheet of paper, key-operated printing mechanism for printing words or characters on said sheet of paper, escapement mechanism operated by said key-operated word or character printing ll'lGOllZllllSIIl, an adjustable member on said carriage and means operated by said number-printing mechanism and cooperating with said adjustable member for backspacing the carriage the distance of its travel between successive operations of said number-printing mechanism.

8. The combination of a movable carriage supporting a sheet of paper, means for printing a plurality of characters simultaneously on said sheet, means for printing characters successively on said sheet, letterspacing mechanism, line-spacing mechanism, operating mechanism for operating said first mentioned printing means, an adjustable member on said carriage, and means operated by said operating mechanism and cooperating with said adjustable member to back-space the carriage after the operation of said last mentioned printing means, and means Operated from said operating mechanism for operating the line-spacing mechanism subsequent to the operation of the first mentioned printing means. 7

9. In a calculating machine, the combination of? a movable carriage supporting a sheet of paper, calculating mechanism, means for setting up a number therein, means for printing said number on said sheet, other printing means operating to print word or characters on said sheet independently of said calculating printing mechanism, means for operating said first mentioned printing means, an adjustable block on said carriage, and means cooperating with said adjustable block for backspacing the carriage subsequent to the operation of said setting-up mechanism and said second mentioned printing mechanism and prior to the printing of the number set up in the calculating mechanism.

10. In a calculating machine, the combination of a calculating mechanism, numberprinting mechanism operated from said calculating mechanism, printing mechanism operated independently of said calculating mechanism, a movable carriage supporting a sheet of paper on which both of said printing mechanisms print, an adjustable block on said carriage, line-spacing mechanism, letter-spacin mechanism, means operated by said calculating mechanism for cooperating With said adjustable block to backspace said carriage, and means operated by said calculating mechanism to operate the line-spacing mechanism subsequent to the operation of said number-printing mechanism.

11. In a calculating machine, a movable carriage supporting a sheet of paper, adjustable means on said carriage whereby numbers may be printed in different columns on said sheet, back spacing mechanism for cooperating with said adjustable means in any of its adjusted positions, number printing mechanism for printing on said sheet, and means operated by said number printing mechanism for operating said back spacin mechanism.

12. n a calculating machine, a movable carriage supporting a sheet of paper, adjustable means on said carriage whereby numbers may be printed in difierent columns on said sheet, back spacing mechanism for cooperating with said adjustable means in any of its adjusted positions, number printing mechanism for printing on said sheet, and means operated by said number printing mechanism for operating said back spacing mechanism, said last mentioned means being positively operated in one direction and yieldingly operated in the opposite direction.

13. The combination of means for listing numbers in separate columns, means for accumulating the numbers in a certain column, and means for automatically and variably shitting the sheet of paper upon which the items are listed, said means being operated by the operating means for the accumulating mechanism, the extent of shifting movement of the paper being proportionate to the number of identifying characters employed in connection with the numbers being accumulated.

14. In a calculating machine, the combination of means for listing numbers in column order, means for accumulating numbers so listed, independently operable means for printing identifying characters in separate columns, tabulating mechanism, and back-spacing mechanism for automatically shifting the paper on which the items are listed and identified, said back-spacing mechanism being operated by the means in control of the accumulating mechanism.

15. In a calculating machine, the combination of a laterally movable paper carriage, an escapement mechanism therefor, typewriting mechanism in control of said escapement mechanism, an adding mechanism containing type designed to make a printing impression on said paper, a stop mounted on the carriage, a lever for cooperating with said stop to back-space the carriage, and means connecting said lever with the adding mechanism whereby the two are operated together.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses, this 22nd day of May, 1912. r

' OTTO THIEME. Witnesses:

M. P. SMITH, C. S. BUTLER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

